Men’s Acquaintance Rape Scripts: A Comparison Between a Regional University and a Military Academy

Abstract

Men's acquaintance rape scripts were investigated to determine if background experiences impacted the type of script elicited. Men were selected from either a regional public university (n=147) or a military academy (n=283) to represent broad general background experiences. Overall, similarities in the five types of scripts elicited were evident, which are reflective of the cultural components that underlie men's expectations of what occurs in these situations. The influence of background experiences was noted in differences in both the frequency with which scripts were reported as well as the individual content of each script. Modeling analyses uncovered the latent structure for these differences. Suggestions for possible explanations for these differences, such as the role of traditional gender role attitudes, are discussed.

Acquaintance Rape Scripts of Women and Men: Similarities and Differences

“…The women ranged in age from 18 to 28 (M=19.76, SD=1.63); the men ranged in age from 18 to 29 (M=19.70, SD=1.84). The male participants also served as the regional public university participants in Carroll and Clark (2006). All of the participants were of European American descent.…”

“…Recent research has begun to explore the impact of different cultural backgrounds on individual's rape scripts (Carroll and Clark 2006;Littleton et al 2007). Carroll and Clark (2006) examined the acquaintance rape scripts of men who were in their first-semester of either a regional public university or a military academy.…”

“…Carroll and Clark (2006) examined the acquaintance rape scripts of men who were in their first-semester of either a regional public university or a military academy. Consistent with earlier research on acquaintance rape scripts (Clark et al 1992), Carroll and Clark found that five acquaintance rape scripts were elicited.…”

“…The current study aimed to build on the work begun in Carroll and Clark (2006) to examine the impact of differing cultural and social influences on the acquaintance rape scripts of women and men. Reflective of Gagnon and Simon's theory of scripts (Gagnon 1990;Simon and Gagnon 1987), it was expected that the acquaintance rape scripts of women and men would demonstrate both overlap and differences in content.…”

Everything's Better in Moderation: Young Women's Gender Role Attitudes and Risky Sexual Behavior

“…In addition, gender role attitudes have some bearing on women's exposure to violence. Traditional gender role attitudes among men have been found to underlie rape scripts [4], and traditional beliefs among women are associated with tolerant perceptions of men's violence toward women [5].Despite this connection to power dynamics within relationships, the influence of young women's gender role attitudes on risky sexual behavior in the United States remains unclear. [16].…”